hath shined into your hearts; and desires, hopes, are stirred that once lay dead within you. At present it may be you do but see, and that dimly, "the wicket gate," but its very outline animates you, you grasp your pilgrim's staff and press on. Faith anticipates the passing through that gate, and the enlarged prospect, and the final victory, and the blissful home; and as you thus by faith realize things not seen as yet, you even now rejoice, and forget that the leprosy of sin is still burdening your soul. Alas! too soon are you reminded of its clogging power, but fear not, hopeful yet trembling ones! "the LORD shall go before you, and the God of Israel shall be your rereward." He will not leave you nor forsake you, He will perfect that which concerns you; He hath sent you tidings of great joy, which, on no uncertain evidence, you "are persuaded of, and have embraced," and are pressing forward to obtain, and you shall not be disappointed of your hope. He who hath thus far brought you on your way, will cause you to know, in your own happy experience, the fulness of that word of blessing, "I am the LORD that healeth thee."

1

Pilgrim's Progress.

2 Exodus xv. 26.

VII.

NAAMAN THE HEALED.

2 KINGS chap v., 13th and 14th verses.

And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

In the last discourse, Naaman's condition was considered; this world had done much for him but it could not do all; he was rich, great, honourable," but he was a leper." We spoke of the hope presented to him by that little captive maid, so humble an instrument, and yet the instrument which God condescended to bless. We marked the ready reception Naaman gave to the tidings she brought; we saw him set out on his way prepared with all that might aid him in obtaining the desired end of his journey; and he did obtain it, Naaman the leper became Naaman the healed, he "washed and was clean." But we have now to tell how, ere that blessing was his,

H

pride wrestled and strove within him, and but for the prevailing grace of the God of mercy, had sent him back, still a leper, to his home. Be with us, gracious God, and whilst we see so plainly Naaman's mistake, do Thou make us to understand our own errors, for Jesus' sake,

Naaman's application,—Elisha's directions, -and their effect,-will present to us some interesting features of the Syrian's further history.

I. Naaman's Application. He first applies to the king of Israel, and presents the letter of his master: "And it came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes and said, Am I God to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? whereupon, consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me," (6th and 7th verses.) He to whom he applied, had no heart to believe the power and grace of the God of Israel. He had indeed experienced it. In the wilderness of Edom, water had miraculously flowed forth to the perishing host of Israel, Edom, and Judah, and the LORD had delivered the Moabites also unto their hands; but Jehoram hath forgotten this 12 Kings, chap. iii.

mercy-it left, at least, no abiding impression in his mind-and now that another trial is come, he knows not whither to flee for refuge or for aid. He receives the letter at the hand of the messengers and reads it, but "he spreads it" not, like Hezekiah, "before the LORD." He knows not the Hope of Israel. But although he to whom Naaman first applied could not aid him, another, unasked, shall proffer and bestow the blessing: "And it was so when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel; so Naaman came with his horses and chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha," (8th verse.) Yes, there are times when the value of the true servants of God appears and is acknowledged, and many more are the seasons when their worth is not owned, and yet is most precious. As it regards our country, who are its best citizens, its true defenders? not the highly esteemed among men, the brave warrior, or the wise statesman; but the faithful few, the "known" of God, those of whom "the world is not worthy," these are its bulwarks, these are the upright “in

whose behalf God shows himself strong." Who, too, in the family circle is the most valuable member? not always that one who wins most smiles, but the prayerful, the unselfish one; the child, the parent, the servant, whose trust is in the LORD, whose mind is stayed upon its God; in the congregation these are the pillars, not the wise, not the mighty, not the rich, not the noble, but the waiting Simeons and the faithful Annas ; but for these the minister's heart might faint, the feeble be turned out of the way, and the aspect of the church be drear indeed. That house of Elisha! how little had Naaman deemed in passing, that under that humble roof dwelt the greatest one in Israel, the honoured instrument of so much blessing to others, he who should give him-the leprous one a cure; nay far more, he who was himself an heir of God, "a partaker of the glory to be revealed." I have read of one who taking his friend to some high ground pointed out the vast extent of country that was his. That friend asked him in reply, "Do you see that cottage whence the smoke is now ascending?" "I do." "There dwells one who has larger possessions, for under that roof lives one to whom Christ is her LORD, earth but her lodging place, Heaven her home."

Not